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Sat, 31 May 1997
Associated Press
Organization: WorldWide Access ™ – Midwestern Internet Services http://www.wwa.com
[Filed at Saturday, May 31, 1997 10:19 pm EDT
by The Associated Press]
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Folk singer Jeff Buckley was missing Friday, a day after he disappeared while swimming in the Mississippi River.
Buckley went swimming shortly after 9 p.m. Thursday and hadn’t been seen since.
He is the son of cult songwriter Tim Buckley, and while described as a folk singer, his music has tended more toward rock than folk. Critics compared his sweeping voice to Van Morrison’s and his bombastic lyrics to those of Led Zeppelin.
His 1994 debut record Grace yielded the alternative hit “Last Goodbye” in the spring of 1995.
Tim Buckley died of a drug overdose in 1975 at age 28.
Jeff Buckley’s age was not known. Officials at Columbia Records did not immediately return a phone call.
©Copyright 1997 The Associated Press
Singer Jeff Buckley’s Body Found
Filed at Wednesday, June 4, 1997 10:22 pm EDT
by The Associated Press
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — The body of folk singer Jeff Buckley was found Wednesday night floating in the Mississippi River, where he had gone for a swim last week.
Police told television station WMC that a passenger on the American Queen river boat spotted the body at the foot of the city’s famous Beale Street.
The body had a pierced navel — like Buckley’s — and was in the same clothes Buckley was described as wearing when he disappeared, police said.
The 30-year-old singer had been missing since jumping into the water at the downtown riverfront harbor on May 30.
Buckley, the son of cult songwriter and singer Tim Buckley, came to Memphis in February to record an album starting this month, said publicists at Columbia Records.
Unlike his father, Buckley’s music tended more toward rock than folk. Critics compared his sweeping voice to Van Morrison and his bombastic lyrics to Led Zeppelin.
His last album, Grace in 1994, included the alternative hit “Last Goodbye.”
Buckley went to high school in New York, then moved to Los Angeles to study music. There he played jazz and funk before joining Shinehead, a reggae band.
After moving back to New York, he formed the short-lived band Gods & Monsters, then launched a solo career playing clubs and coffeehouses. He signed a record deal with Columbia, and released the five-song live EP Live at Sin-é in 1993.
Tim Buckley died of a drug overdose in 1975 at age 28.
©Copyright 1997 The Associated Press